A beautifully coloured and flavoured Kashmiri Chai that satisfies the soul. Step by step photos + videos, and tips and tricks for the perfect colour and how to store it in the post!
Bonus: there's a quantity cheat sheet in there too!
Most of the Kashmiri Chai I have had in my life has been served to me in styrofoam cups. Sometimes it was ladled into them late at night at winter time mehndis with the pulsing rhythm of dance performances in the background and others it was graciously filled by a family member while the loud buzz of excited chatter enveloped the room.
In either scenario it’s presence makes the evening feel more special, styrofoam cups or no styrofoam cups.
Pssst another great cozy drink idea is my Phitti Hui Coffee or Whipped Coffee with the best time saving hack! If you are a creature of nostalgia like me then this Caramel Custard and this Coffee Cake are totally worth checking out!
Table of contents
- What does Kashmiri Tea taste like?
- Why do you call it Pakistani Kashmiri Chai?
- What goes in Kashmiri Chai?
- Recipe Video
- Why is Kashmiri Tea pink?
- Level with me: Do I need to cook it for this long?
- Steps to Making the Kahwa
- Storing the Kahwa:
- Making Kashmiri Chai from the Kahwa:
- Kahwa Cheat Sheet: How to scale the recipe
- Tips and Tricks for Perfect Kashmiri Chai
- Troubleshooting
What does Kashmiri Tea taste like?
Kashmiri chai is a rich, slightly floral, milky tea with the bright underpinnings of minced nuts, the sweet headiness of cardamom, cinnamon (and even star anise). It tastes rich, luxurious, and when done right it’s absolutely lovely.
Does Pink Tea have Caffeine?
Kashmiri Chai is brewed from green tea leaves which have caffeine so Kashmiri Chai definitely does too! Green teas can have between 30-50 mg of caffeine. For comparisons sake regular tea clocks in around 30-35mg.
Why do you call it Pakistani Kashmiri Chai?
The qualifier exists because what we call Kashmiri Chai is actually not entirely authentic to Kashmir.
Kashmiris make a beautiful beverage called Noon (salty) Chai which is decidedly savoury.
This does not pretend to be that!
Truth: I used to call it Karachi Style Kashmiri Chai, but then my Lahori friends and those from other parts of Pakistan pointed out that they too make it exactly this way!
What goes in Kashmiri Chai?
Kashmiri Green Tea Leaves - the star, please buy tea leaves labeled as Kashmiri for optimal results
Salt - for that distinct umami
Baking Soda - to help facilitate the pinkness
Cardamom, Cinnamon and/or Star Anise for rich aroma
Milk - because, you know, chai.
Minced nuts - almonds and pistachios - for warmth and flavour
Recipe Video
Why is Kashmiri Tea pink?
Science my friends is a wonderful thing.
During the first cook the green tea leaves react with alkaline baking soda to create a maroon base for the tea. Then when you add ice cold water you essentially shock the tea into preserving its colour, and then aerate to enhance it.
My fellow cookery nerds will appreciate this article fully explaining the process.
Level with me: Do I need to cook it for this long?
Short answer: YES.
The flavour difference between Kashmiri Chai that is correctly brewed and isn’t is the difference between stove top chai and chai made with a teabag.
As the tea leaves for this Pink Tea simmer away they release their flavour into the kahwa. Given that the entire simmering process is hands off please let the tea leaves do their thing and give you the wonderful cup that you deserve.
I will say though that if you are in a time crunch then here's a recipe from my friend Izzah that's absolutely worth checking out.
Steps to Making the Kahwa
Kashmiri Chai is often over complicated, but let me break it down for you to show you how straightforward it really is.
Step One: Combine all the kahwa ingredients in the pot and bring it to a boil.
Step Two: Simmer for about an hour to reduce by half, if you need ten extra minutes then take them!
Step Three: Turn the stove off and strain the tea leaves (watch the colour!)
Step Four: Pour in the ICE COLD water and aerate with a ladle (or look below for an alternate idea) - this is the only hard part. Spend a good 5-7 minutes ladling the tea from a height, the colour of the kahwa and especially the foam as it hits the water will change.
TIP: I often do this in my sink to contain stains from splashing!
Your Kahwa is ready!
Storing the Kahwa:
This recipe (which can be easily halved) makes a generous amount of kahwa. You can store it in the fridge for upto two weeks.
Making Kashmiri Chai from the Kahwa:
For every one cup of tea you want to make simply take ⅓ cup kahwa, bring it to a boil stovetop and add ⅔ cup milk to the mix. Bring it to a simmer, add in the nuts and serve with some sugar on the side.
Secret tip: Adding a tiny splash of cream at this point will really take it up a notch!
Kahwa Cheat Sheet: How to scale the recipe
However, if you want to make a smaller quantity refer to the graphic below!
As the kahwa sits over time the shade of pink the tea takes on will change, but it will still be delicious.
Tips and Tricks for Perfect Kashmiri Chai
Here are some must read tips if you are making it for the first time!
- Although I believe certain brands of green tea can produce this beautiful colour you are best off using Kashmiri tea leaves. And not the ones in your cabinet for 2+ years.
- Start brewing your tea with cold water
- Shock with the coldest water you can to produce that beautiful color
- Don't skimp on the aerating, 5-8 minutes will turn the froth on top a foamy pink
- Make sure you actually simmer the kahwa and milk together for at least 2 minutes. The milk affects both colour and taste - generally I prefer evaporated milk here, but know of people who use half n half as well
- Test a small quantity first so that you know the tea ‘works’.
- Flavour - the aromatics you use will greatly impact flavour. Usually it is some combination of whole cardamom, cinnamon sticks, and badiyan ka phool (star anise). I love it best with cardamom, but know that at weddings in Karachi Badiyan ka Phool is often used.
Troubleshooting
- Help! It isn’t Pink!: okay folks, deep breath. Odds are it still tastes fine, but if you want you can always add a little more baking soda to your kahwa (tiny amounts please) to see if that helps the colour. Too much and you will ruin the taste!
- Too late - it’s a Baking Soda Flavored Nightmare: Oops. Okay so here’s what you can do - we are going to add a few more pods of lightly bruised cardamom and fat pinches of nuts, give it a simmer, and then strain out the nuts and cardamom pods. The combination of the two should cut the bitter after taste.
- My Hands Hurt: When I ladle the tea and watch it pour back into the cup it feels like meditation. However, normal people don’t feel this way. I have tested many other ways to aerate the tea. My preferred method for tired days is using an electric beater in a very deep bowl. If not the kahwa splatters everywhere and you will spend more time cleaning up than you would have aerating by hand
Oh and if you're wondering what to serve with Kashmiri Chai can I just say that this Cream Cheese Pound Cake is PERFECT with it! No cream cheese? No problem. Try this Yogurt Cake instead!
If you make this recipe do take a few seconds to rate it! I would love to see your recreations so tag me on instagram @flourandspiceblog !
Kashmiri Chai
Ingredients
- 6 tbsp Kashmiri Tea Leaves
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- ¼-1/2 tsp salt
- 5-6 Cardamom Pods
- 1 Badiyan ka Phool (Optional)
- 1 small piece of cinnamon stick (optional)
- 2 cups ice cold water (I mix mine with ice)
- finely chopped pistachios & almonds
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients except the ice cold water to a pot with 8 cups of cold tap water.
- Bring to a boil, simmer for one hour or until the liquid is halved, it's okay if it reduces a little more but please do cook it down.
- Sieve the green tea leaves out.
- Now get ready for a work out. Pour the ice cold water from a height into the tea concentrate.
- Pour back and forth from bowl to bowl or use a ladle to drop it back into the bowl from a height to aerate the tea. I suggest doing this in your sink or a prepped surface area since it does splash a bit.
- After a full 5-8 minutes of doing this the foam the tea produces will take on a rich bodied pink
- Bring the tea mix back to a boil, bring to a boil. The "kahwa" is ready.
- To make each cup of tea: Take a ladle (about ⅓ of a cup) of the kahwa, bring to a boil, add ⅔ cup milk and a splash of water. At this stage I like to throw in an extra cardamom pod too. Cook for 2-3 minutes and serve topped with a scant spoon of crushed pistachios
Video
Notes
- This makes a generous amount of kahwa, for smaller quantities refer to the infographic in the post!
- In the original recipe I had suggested cooking for two hours for the large quantity, but after experimenting a few times with the quantities I think about an hour or until the kahwa halves works
Like Kashmiri Chai? How about Phitti Hui Coffee? It's another favourite drink of ours - especially when you can make it in minutes! Also don't forget to save the Pink Chai recipe for later!
Made this following your exact directions and came out better than it ever has before!! Thank you!!
wohoooo!!!!!!
Made this 3 times already and everyone loves it!!!
yay!!!! that's absolutely great - and it's totally the perfect time to be drinking Kashmiri Chai!
Hi Sarah,
You nailed the colour!! I am not sure if you have any Afghani family friends. Pink tea is a very traditional tea in Afghanistan as well. Most Afghans mastered the art of pink tea :)) My mom makes the best tea and the colour is unbelievable. I am like you I have a few posts written on pink tea too, but never published it lol. To get that unique colour right is not easy!! Your recipe is the exact way we make our pink tea as well. My mom always says you have to take your time! Perhaps I was rushing through. I will follow your steps and see if I can manage the colour. Next time I am at my mom's I will send you a picture of the green tea they use. You can get it from any Persian store.
Oh wow!!!! Thank you thank you for taking the time to share that! I always think of pink tea as a Pakistani/Indian thing! Also would love to know the brand your mother uses!
This kashmiri chai recipe was AMAZING! Thank you for taking the time to share this as you’ve changed my guest experience for the rest of my life 🙂
That is absolutely awesome to hear!
Hi Sarah!! I am a tea lover and of Pakistan region. Since I have been away from home for most of the time, and I recently happened to come across a video of Kashimiri Pink Chae video (for the first time). And as I am commenting so obviously your blog was the first one I came across and got lucky with the best way to know the making of the pink chae. Will post once I make one soon. Since it is the winter season in Tokyo, I bet this chae would be the best thing I could have.
Cheers!!
Hi Naveesh!!! I am so glad you found this post! This tea recipe is one of my most requested ones and it always feels like it's worth the effort! I have a step by step video saved on my instagram stories if you are a visual learner. Either way please do let me know how it turns out!
I'm convinced these tea photos all have food coloring. I followed this recipe to the letter and yet it's still a reddish brown. I even put it through my Vitamix after straining to aerate.
The label on the loose Kashmiri tea that I bought this week is bright pink and I can't help but feel it's all false advertising.
Hi Rachel! I am so sorry that you feel that way. I can assure you that I didn't use any food coloring here. In fact I regularly try different things because I am trying to get to the brighter pink that I have had at other peoples places, but it sadly still eludes me. I am not sure if you are on Instagram, but if you are I also have a step by step of me making it in my instagram highlights on a pretty overcast day (@flourandspiceblog). There are no filters or anything used there.
Just to confirm is your froth pink when you are aerating? Also yes the air is key but so is the reaction of the iced water and the Kashmiri chai base. It takes a serious arm workout and dropping the liquid from height to get there. If you are ok with all these steps then I think maybe it's just your milk to water ratio that needs adjusting. Hope this helps!
hi Sarah, I tried this for the first time today and it came out such a beautiful color. My guests loved it absolutely and this is my new specialty !!! Thank you for sharing
Hi Tee! I am so glad it turned out well! When it does it seems well worth the arm workout doesn't it !?! 🙂
Hi!! Just confirming if its 6 tablespoons or teaspoons of kashmiri tea leaves? thank you!
tablespoons! this makes for a lovely rich kahwa!
I made this yesterday and it came out perfect! Never been able to get a nice pink color. Recipe was very detailed and easy to follow. Made it with half and half, will try evaporated milk next time. Thank you!
Haven’t tried it but was wondering if it could be made in the instant pot
@SARAHJMIR@GMAIL.COM
Hi! I have never made it in the instant pot so I can't say. I don't know what the advantage would be though
WOW! This looks super easy to try and enjoy in Canadian winters. Can you suggest which tea leaves to try? How about Davids Tea Organic Kashmiri Chai, as it is easily available in Canada.
I'd really appreciate your suggestions.
Hi Akshi! I have used the Handi brand tea leaves because all desi stores carry them and they give consistently good results!
This tea is so beautiful! I don’t know if I’ll ever make it, but I hope one day I will get to have a cup or two.
Aww Linda thank you and I hope so too!
Where do you buy the leaves ?
Hi Priya! All my local South Asian stores seem to carry them, but I have friends who have made it with regular green tea as well and while the color is not quite the same I hear it still turns out super yummy! If trying a green tea I would recommend increasing the baking soda by a pinch!
Disclaimer - I used vahdam kashmiri tea so didn’t add any additional spices as directed, but used your technique as written and it came out amazing - this was after trying two other techniques.
I am SO happy to hear that it turned out well! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for sharing!
Thank YOU Reena!
Hi.. Could you please do a you tube video making it.. I learn better from visuals... My son is 11 and desparate for pink tea. Thank you x
Hi Fariha! I can definitely record a video and put it in the post, but the only tricky part is the ucchhaalna in the sense that you need to do it for a little bit of time. Other than that it's no effort!
Thank you so much! This is getting me closer to what I was looking for. Question: before adding the cold water, how much should be left of the hot kahwa? I know to continue adding if it's dipping below 1/4 of original amount, but what's ideal to end up with before the shocking stage?
I aim for a rough third! Hope this works for you!!!
That's perfect! Thank you so much for responding. <3
my pleasure!
This was SO GOOD. Delicious and such a gorgeous pink color. I’m going to make another batch so I have plenty for Ramadan!
HOW WONDERFUL! Thank you for sharing!!!!!
I tried the Kashmiri Chai recipe and it turned out amazing. Thank you for sharing your recipe. Your measuremenmt and instructions were to the point. The recipe is super helpful and i got lot of praises for the chai i made at a dawat. 😍🥰. Thank u so much
So so appreciate you taking the time to share that! Thank you Saira!
Thank you so much, it really works, I made pink tea on my first try! :,)
Wonderful!!!! Now you have me wanting to make some too!
I have been craving this but haven't made it yet cuz there's no gas in Karachi! But the video is so satisfying. Will definitely try it in a few weeks.
Sarah, this was such a timely post!! I had been craving pink tea and was missing the cups we would get at home thanks to mom making kavah and keep in fridge always!!
As you know with parents.. everything is andaza.. so I'm so glad u wrote drown thr maths!! I made the 7cups from your cheat sheet..and it's safe to say I'll be making a bigger batch for easy use tonight!!! THANK YOU!!!!
P.s. your recipe for shami kababs are in my instant pot right now, will post my feedback soon!
Woohoo!!!! I’m so so happy to hear that you enjoyed it!!! Can’t wait to hear about the Kabab!
Hi Sarah. Is there a certain brand you use for the tea leaves?
Hi Again Kanwal! I use Handi brand ones!
My aunt married into an Afghan family and I have fond memories of joining her for weekly dinners with her in laws. I was amazed at the both the amount of food and the number cousins present! My uncle’s family served the most amazing pink tea and I’ve spent about twenty years wishing I could find it again. Today, following your recipe, I was able to make my own cup! Delightful!! Thank you!!
I cannot tell you just how much it warmed my heart to read that! thank you so very much for trying this recipe and for sharing that!
I think this was the first recipe I tried from Sarah's blog and it turned out extremely delicious! For me kashmiri chai is a treat that we used to get at weddings growing up and I'm so glad the recipe turned out exactly as I'd hoped. Reminded me of my childhood winters!
That childhood winters reference gave me goosebumps. Thank you so much for the review and for trying this recipe - it means a lot!
Where can I get Kashmiri Tea Leaves? I don't want to get the wrong ones. Thanks. Shukriya. شکریہ
Paul
The Indian and Pakistani stores typically carry them! Hope that helps!